After 50 Years, Nepal May Reopen Legal Path for Controlled Cannabis
Kathmandu, November 1: Nepal may soon see the return of legal cannabis cultivation after nearly five decades. The Supreme Court has ordered the government to build a regulatory framework for controlled farming and production of cannabis for medicinal, scientific, agricultural, horticultural and industrial purposes.
For decades, cannabis has been a banned crop in Nepal. The Narcotic Drugs (Control) Act, 1976, criminalised its sale, cultivation and consumption. Anyone growing the plant currently faces the prospect of imprisonment and fines.
The court has now given the government three months to prepare the rules, standards and procedures needed to regulate cannabis cultivation and production.
The judgment was announced on May 18, 2025, though its full text was published only a few days ago. The documents were not immediately available after a fire at the Supreme Court on September 9 last year, which broke out during Gen Z protests.
The court found that the 1976 law, while prohibiting cannabis, still provides legal scope for controlled cultivation and production for medicinal, scientific and industrial uses. The government's failure to frame necessary rules and procedures had prevented these activities from taking place.
The bench directed authorities to set up strict supervision and a regulatory system to issue licences or permits. The framework is meant to cover commercial cultivation, production, processing, storage, use, sale, distribution, export and import for approved purposes, while blocking illegal cultivation, manufacturing, sale and distribution.
After the 1970s law took effect, many people kept away from cannabis farming and production, fearing legal action.
The debate over allowing cannabis cultivation for medicinal and scientific use has picked up pace in recent years. In March 2020, then-House of Representatives member Sher Bahadur Tamang tabled a private member's bill seeking to legalise marijuana, chiefly for medicinal use and export. Licensed farmers would have been permitted to grow and sell it. The bill was not passed by Parliament.
Under that proposal, farmers would have obtained licences from local governments or district administrations. They would have been required to disclose the farming area, list the people involved and pledge that the crop would not be misused.
On July 9 this year, the Gandaki Province Assembly unanimously passed a bill to license cannabis cultivation for medicinal and industrial purposes.
Records suggest that cannabis cultivation and sale were lawful in Nepal until the early 1970s. Things changed as large numbers of hippies from Western countries arrived in the 1960s and 1970s, driving up demand for marijuana and hashish and building a large market that drew international attention.
Many researchers in Nepal and abroad believe that the American 'War on Drugs' campaign of that era influenced Nepal's decision to classify cannabis cultivation, sale and consumption as criminal acts.
The global outlook has shifted significantly. Several US states now recognise cannabis for medical use, and some permit recreational use as well. A number of other countries have also granted cannabis legal status for both medical and recreational purposes.